Refrigerator shelf-securing means



1935- R. L. RICKARD ET AL REFRIGERATOR SHELF SECURING MEANS Filed April 29, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS Q. L. Rickard Nov. 19, 1935.

R. L. RICKARD ET AL REFRIGERATOR SHELF SECURING MEANS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 29, 1931 IG |4 INVENTO llLflickar d BY W.D.Collms r 1 :2 ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 19, 1935 PATENT OFFICE 2,021,464 I REFRIGERATOR SHELF-SECURING MEANS Robert L. Rickard and William D. Collins, Evansville, Ind., assignors to Serve] Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application April 29, 1931, Serial No. 533,642

5 Claims.

This invention relates to cabinets and shelves for supporting commodities therein, and more particularly to the manner of supporting the shelves within cabinets.

In the shipment of refrigerator cabinets, it has been customary to pack the shelves in a separate container or carton in order to prevent the rattling or dislodgement of the shelves within the cabinet. This practice is expensive on account of the time and material required for the packing, increased transportation charges, and on account of errors in shelf sizes or in supplying the proper shelves for particular cabinets.

The present invention has for its primary object the provision of shelves which may be applied at the factory and shipped in place, such shelves being provided with means for holding them againstrattling or dislodgement during shipment and use.

Further objects and advantages will be apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, where- Fig. l is a horizontal section through a cabinet showing a plan view of a shelf provided with securing means illustrating one application of the invention;

Fig. 2, a section on the line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3, a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4. an enlarged detail of the end of the shelf shown at the right in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5, an enlarged detail of the end of the shelf shown at the left in Fig. 3;

Fig. 6, a transverse section of a modified form of shelf securing means;

Fig. '7, a horizontal section through a cabinet showing a plan view of a modified form of shelf securing means;

Fig. 8, a transverse section on the line 88 of Fig. '7;

Fig. 9, an enlarged detail of a portion of the structure shown in Fig. 7

Fig. 10, a horizontal section through a cabinet showing a plan view of a shelf having supporting members in a different position from those of Fig. 1;

Fig. 11, a section on the line lI--|I of Fig. 10; and

Fig. 12, a section on the line l2-l2 of Fig. 11.

Referring to the drawings, a cabinet III of any desired construction, and which may be for use as a refrigerator or in any other desired capacity, is provided with a lining II. In the interior of the cabinet a plurality of studs or bosses I! are mounted in order to support shelves I3.

These shelves may be of any desired construction, for example, formed of frame members with flat bars of metal extending across the same.

Means is provided for maintaining the shelves against vibration and in contact with their sup- 5 porting members l2. Illustrative of said means are cooperating hooks l4 and clamps l5, which respectively hook under and clamp around the supporting members. The hooks M, as shown best in Fig. 4, are formed with body portions 1:)-

l6, which may be welded or secured in any other manner to the frame member of the shelf l3. adjacent the rear of the shelf, so that the shelf may be rested upon opposed supports I2 and slid rearwardly in the cabinet to cause the free end of the hook, which is disposed in parallel relation to the shelf, to slide beneath the support and prevent vertical movement relative to the support. The clamp I5, as is best shown in Fig. 5, is substantially U-shaped in construction and has its extremities diverging in order to permit its jaws to be sprung apart when it is applied to its support I 2. The body of the clamp has side portions ll welded or secured in any other manner to the shelf l3. In applying this shelf as shown in Fig. 3, the rear of the shelf is first rested upon the rear opposed supports l2 while the shelf is in inclined positionand then slid rearwardly until the hooks extend beneath the supports, whereupon the front of the shelf is lowered and the diverging extremities of the jaws of the clamp are spread apart and sprung over and grip the front opposed shelf supports to further secure the front extremities of the shelf in horizontal position. The clamps prevent the shelf from moving edgewise and the disengagement of the hooks H from beneath the rear supports.

In lieu of the securing means illustrated in Figs. 1 to 5, just described, other securing means 40 may be employed, as illustrated for example in Fig. 6, wherein hooks Id, like those shown in the previous figures, are provided at opposite sides near the front of the shelf, and at opposite sides near the rear of t he shelf are provided resilient latches or clampingwnembers l8 having body portions l9 welded or otherwise secured to the frame member of the shelf l3 The forward or free ends of the latches it! are bent over in order to hook over and confine the supports l2 beneath the same, the outer extremities 2i) of the latches being turned outwardly to form a cam so that when they are applied to the supports they will spring away from the shelf and permit the supports to ride thereunder. In applying a shelf having this 56 tion with the front supports I2.

type of securing means, the shelf is placed upon the supports i2 with the supports near the open ends of the hooks l4 and i8 and the shelf is then slid rearwardly to secure it in place.

Another type of securing means is shown in Figs. 7, 8, and 9, in which the hooks 94, like those of Fig. 6, are placed at the front edge of the shelf, but are reversed so that the shelf must be moved forwardly to engage the hooks beneath the supports E2, or, in other words, from the dotted line position to the full line position. At the rear of the shelf are spring fingers or clamps 2|, which have hook portions 22 for engaging supports l2. The clamps 2| have body portions 23 secured to the frame of the shelf. In inserting the shelf the rear edge is rested upon the supports [2 with the front edge of the shelf slightly elevated, and the shelf is moved rearwardly until the hooks I4 pass to a position that the front-edge of the shelf may lower and rest upon the front supports l2, whereupon the shelf, upon being released, will be urged forwardly by the spring fingers 2| and the shelf will be resiliently held in position.

In Figs. 10, 11, and 12 the shelf supports l2 at the rear are mounted upon the rear wall of the cabinet instead of in the side walls as shown in the previous figures. With this construction the shelves are provided with hooks i4 and clamps 15, as shown in Figs. 1 to5. However, the clamps l are secured to the rear frame member of the shelf, while the hooks M are secured to the extremities of the shelf at'the sides for coopera- In applying a shelf having this type of securing means, the shelf is inserted in-the cabinet with its rear edge elevated and the forward portions of the sides resting upon the supports l2 and the hooks l4 behind the supports l2. The shelf is slid forward to bring the hooks into engagement with the members l2, whereupon the rear edge of the shelf is lowered to bring the clamps l5into clampin engagement around the supports l2. With the various examples of securing means illustrated, the shelves will be securely held in It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various other changes may be made in the construction and arrangement without departing from the spirit of the invention and therefore the invention is not limited to what is shown in the drawings and described in the specification, but only as indicated in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

i. In combination, a plurality of rigid supports, a shelf resting on said supports, hook means carried by said shelf extending under one of said supports, and resilient means carried by said shelf and fitting around another of said supports to hold said shelf against rattling.

2. A shelf comprising a frame, hooks carried by the frame and adapted to hook about rigid shelf supports when the shelf is applied, and one or more spring clips carried by the frame in spaced relation to said hooks, said spring clips being adapted to clampingly engage one or more shelf supports and coact with the hooks for resiliently maintaining the shelf in position against vibration, relative to its supporting means.

3. A shelf, hook means carried by said shelf arranged to engage beneath a rigid support for the shelf, and resilient means carried by said shelf adapted to clampingly engage another rigid support to hold the shelf in place against rattling.

4. A shelf adapted to rest upon supports, means on said shelf for fastening it in position comprising hook means providing an opening parallel to said shelf and designed to engage a support when the shelf is moved horizontally, and clamping means providing an opening transversely of the shelf and adapted to receive and clamp about a'support when the shelf is moved transversely of the horizontal.

5.In a cabinet, a shelf, supports therefor, two hooks adjacent the rear corners of the shelf removably engaging certain of said supports and two clamps adjacent the front corners of the shelf removably engaging certain of said supports, the two hooks engaging their respective supports upon a horizontal movement of the shelf and the clamps engaging their respective supports upon a movement of the shelf at an angle to the horizontal plane. p

\ ROBERT L. RICKARD.

WILLIAM D. COLLINS. 

